Ex Rank Supporting Role’s Replay in a Prestigious School

Chapter 804

Despite coming to the amusement park with the Hojok, Kim Shin-rok couldn't relax and enjoy himself.

It was because he was consumed with thoughts about the crisis Seong Guk-eon was facing and how to respond to it.

Jo Yi-shin had advised Hwang Ho and Kim Shin-rok, as members of the Hojok, to contact Seong Guk-eon and work with him.

‘I should contact Seong Guk-eon to collaborate, as Jo Yi-shin suggested, but...’

Moreover, wasn't Seong Guk-eon facing a crisis?

Now was the time to come up with a plan, yet Kim Shin-rok felt self-reproach over his hesitation.

The Hojok members, knowing Kim Shin-rok's struggle, didn't pressure him, making his burden even heavier.

‘But there’s no more time. When Jo Yi-shin first mentioned it, he said I should have made up my mind at least a month ago.’

At that time, Jo Yi-shin had made it clear that if Kim Shin-rok wasn’t ready, he would personally contact Seong Guk-eon and Jeong Mu-yeong to carry out a replay.

The word "replay" made Kim Shin-rok feel a sense of unease.

Replays began with practical exams in December, and the death of two characters in the game would occur in May, meaning a year and a half of nightmares.

He recalled the confusion on the faces of Jeok-ho and Yong Je-geon, who had experienced a replay lasting about a year, and that worried him.

Even though he knew it was necessary, as someone who had once been their mentor, it still weighed on his heart.

In the midst of his troubled thoughts, a message from Yong Je-geon further disturbed his mind.

[Yong] Going to the amusement park with my family, huh? Have fun ^^

Kim Shin-rok had joined for security reasons, but Yong Je-geon spoke as if they were simply going out with family.

In truth, the Hojok had said they were going out for security, but it was only an excuse; as Yong Je-geon said, they were indeed there with family.

Yong Je-geon’s annoying remarks continued.

[Yong] Next time, want to go with me?

[Yong] Or you could go with your disciples, like Guk-eon. ^^

Kim Shin-rok didn’t respond, but Yong Je-geon’s usual teasing tone made it clear he knew exactly what Kim Shin-rok was struggling with and began pushing his buttons.

Though his methods were irritating, Kim Shin-rok decided to appreciate it for what it was—a push to move forward.

“Son, let’s ride that one next.”

At Jeok-ho’s words, Kim Shin-rok closed the hologram window.

This was Jeok-ho’s first time at the amusement park with his son, and he was quite excited.

Though Kim Shin-rok didn’t fully understand his father’s intention to ease his son’s stress and spend time with him, seeing Jeok-ho happy made Kim Shin-rok feel the same way.

Jeok-ho spoke kindly to Kim Shin-rok.

“Whatever choice you make, I’m on your side.”

No matter what choice he made, he had someone on his side.

Kim Shin-rok still felt guilty toward Jeok-ho, and he couldn't fully accept that fact, but hearing those words gave him courage.

With a lighter heart, Kim Shin-rok walked side by side with Jeok-ho.

At the amusement park, there was the joy of waiting and the fun of walking around and exploring the attractions, but the younger descendants wanted to enjoy all the rides quickly.

Since we were the only guests at Hwangmyeong Theme Park, there was no waiting for any of the attractions, and we could go right on.

Even though the attractions were spaced out, the players’ special abilities allowed us to move quickly, saving time.

However, the youngest descendant, Eun Jae-ho, quickly became tired and slowed down.

“Ha ha ha! You seem tired. Come with me.”

Before Kim Shin-rok could step in, Hwang Ji-ho grabbed Eun Jae-ho’s hand and jumped, almost flying.

Eun Jae-ho, taken aback by the speed, laughed loudly, enjoying himself.

Eun Yi-ho and Eun Seo-ho followed behind, running after them.

‘He’s more excited than the descendants.’

It seemed like Hwang Ji-ho was more excited than the descendants. Was he happy to see them enjoying themselves?

After all, he had been busy and hadn’t spent much time with his family, so it felt like he was finally taking on the role of the father.

It was a bit of a metaphor, but not entirely incorrect.

After riding a few attractions, we had lunch, which Hwang Ji-ho had prepared.

Inside a beautifully decorated lunch box with golden tiger motifs were the classic items for a picnic lunch—gimbap.

It seemed the concept of the lunch box was tied to the tiger outing theme, as each gimbap was made using the symbolic colors of each tiger.

For example, Hwang Ji-ho’s gimbap had rolled egg, Baek Ho-gun’s had plain white rice, and Jeok-ho’s had gimbap with spicy stir-fried meat.

At first glance, there were no unusual ingredients, but after taking a bite, Kim Shin-rok couldn’t help but praise it for how delicious it was.

‘The bread with a light Concord grape jam spread on it must represent the Blue Tiger.’

The taste was excellent, and the symbolic meaning of the menu was well thought out.

Hwang Ji-ho, looking pleased, asked how his cooking skills were, and Kim Shin-rok replied that it was delicious, making Hwang Ji-ho even happier.

After lunch, the tour continued, and we reached the giant Ferris wheel.

With four people per cabin, we had to decide who would ride with whom, so we decided to use a ladder to fairly choose.

In the end, I got to ride with Eun Seo-ho and my angel, Olmu.

‘What luck to be riding with an angel today!’

The angel eagerly jumped up, showing off their natural talent, and was the first to board.

Following them, I could hear voices behind us.

“Jo Yi-shin’s intelligence is quite low, so you’ll need to take care of him.”

“Yes, Hwang Ho-nim!”

Although my intelligence had indeed dropped, I couldn’t believe Eun Seo-ho was leaving me in charge of a younger junior. But today was a good day, so I decided not to be bothered by it.

As I sat next to the angel, they naturally climbed into my lap.

As the Ferris wheel began to move, and our view began to rise, it really felt like I was going up into the sky with the angel.

“Yi-shin hyung, I had a question for you.”

Before the Ferris wheel reached its peak, Eun Seo-ho, who had been quietly staring out the window, spoke up.

I was fine with him asking whenever he wanted, but why was he asking now?

While gently petting the angel, Eun Seo-ho continued.

“There’s a girl in our class named Cheon Eun-ha. She was the top scorer in the entrance exam… do you know her?”

I froze and instinctively stopped moving my hand.

Suddenly, Eun Seo-ho was asking about Eun-ho, and I couldn’t help but feel nervous.

Since I couldn’t judge how much I should say, I decided to keep it superficial.

“I know her. She’s Cheon Dong-ha’s sister and just joined the newspaper club as a new member.”

“I knew you knew her! She talks about you a lot, or rather, I guess she talks about you to me sometimes.”

What exactly was Eun-ho saying about me to her classmates?

Had he been talking about his older brother and then, to keep his act up, mentioned me too? But why would he be talking about me?

No, perhaps Eun Seo-ho had misunderstood, and Eun-ho had only mentioned Cheon Dong-ha.

“I did mention that I had rivaled Eun-ha since I missed the top spot. But she and I are in the same class now, and I’m the class president while she’s the vice president.”

It seemed Eun Seo-ho had some conflicting feelings about Eun Eun-ha.

It was a bit awkward to hear about his grandfather being called “Eun-ha,” but hearing it made me sigh.

Had Eun Seo-ho not been staring out the window, I might have noticed sooner that my behavior had become a little strange.

While trying not to show it, I kept petting the angel to calm myself down.

“I want to get closer to Eun-ha. Yi-ho wants to too.”

That made my resolve waver slightly.

Many descendants loved Eun-ho, but practically, only Eun-ho remained, aside from his sibling, as the last remaining bloodline.

Even if Eun-ho couldn’t detect his true lineage, his instinctual desire to get closer to his family felt understandable.

It made me sad but also hopeful that Eun Seo-ho and Eun-ho could bond, despite their rivalry.

But I didn’t think Eun-ho would want to get closer to either of them.

As I expected, Eun Seo-ho spoke again, his expression gloomy.

“Somehow, it seems hard to get close. He’s always polite when I talk to him, but no matter how much we talk, it doesn’t feel like we’re getting closer.”

I couldn’t help but sigh.

Olmu seemed to sympathize, letting out a low hum in an attempt to comfort him.

Eun Seo-ho kept staring out the window.

By then, the Ferris wheel had passed the peak and was starting to descend.

“Yi-shin hyung, it seems like you’re close with Eun-ha. How can I get closer to her?”

I remembered Eun-ho back when he was in Cheon Seong-heon.

Back then, Cheon Seong-heon was friendly and kind, getting along with anyone.

It wasn’t that I made the effort to get close, but rather that Cheon Seong-heon made the first move.

Although Eun-ho might be different now, I figured the core part of him hadn't changed much.

He probably hesitated to get close because of the fact that they were close cousins.

After thinking for a while, I gave a lame answer.

“Maybe time will take care of it.”

The situation Eun-ho had to handle was too heavy, so he probably just needed more time.

It was, of course, an unhelpful answer.

But Eun Seo-ho seemed satisfied just hearing that and cheerfully said,

“Time… I guess if we spend more time together at school, we’ll get closer, right? Eun-ha will probably stay in Class 0 too!”

Eun Seo-ho spoke positively, starting to think about future events in Class 0.

He made plans for a field trip to Hwangmyeong Theme Park for all the 0-class students.

I assumed the first-year Class 0 students would be satisfied with the class president’s field trip plan.

‘Though I doubt Eun-ho, the vice president, will be thrilled, he’ll probably come along eventually.’

Eun-ho was really smart and wise, but when it came to family, the descendants might be much wiser.

I promised to help Eun Seo-ho plan the trip and got off the Ferris wheel.

Eun Seo-ho’s face was brighter than before we boarded.

As the sun was setting, the surroundings quickly grew dark.

When night fell, the theme park lit up with bright lights, creating a completely different atmosphere.

The descendants didn’t seem tired and picked attractions where they could enjoy the night scenery.

By the time we returned to the Tiger Mansion, it was already quite late.

‘I missed the timing to return to the dorms. With the descendants having so much fun, I couldn’t leave by myself.’

Luckily, I wasn’t the only one caught up.

Kim Shin-rok had ended up at the mansion too, ready to sleep there.

Seeing his grim expression while drinking tea beside Jeok-ho reassured me that I wasn’t the only one affected.

Hwang Ji-ho put down his teacup and said.

“Jo Yi-shin, looks like you’re still not sleepy. That’s good. I have something to discuss regarding our promise.”

The promise with Hwang Ji-ho?

It didn’t immediately come to mind, but considering the keyword “promise” and the current timing, I had a feeling I knew what it was about.

“Is it about the April Fool’s prank?”

Upon hearing my answer, Hwang Ji-ho smiled mischievously, clearly satisfied.